Lee Smythe – Buried Alive (Album Review)

Some genres are so familiar to us, listening to it seems like a distant nostalgic trip- even if you haven’t particularly heard a ‘particular’ track, with a distinct sequence to it. I’d say genres with a folk origin tend to generate this feeling the most, with a capacity to evoke a sense of musical universality. In today’s review, we will chance upon an artist that delivers primarily that! Meet Lee Smythe.

Lee Smythe is an indie-folk singer-songwriter originally from a small town near Los Angeles, California, and is now based in the Bay Area. His music contains a blend of elements ranging from swing all the way to Americana, with inbetween genres like folk and rock infused into it. This all culminates into a market-friendly form of distinctive pop, drawing inspiration from artists like Roger Miller, the Sherman Brothers, Harry Nilsson, Doug Martsch, Billy Joel and Paul Simon.

Being in this industry for a while, Lee Smythe began his solo career in 2016 after participating in over a dozen musical projects. His debut album, ‘Of Dreams’, released the same year, gained traction on college radio and Spotify playlists. To add on to his repertoire, he has also opened for notable acts such as Willie Watson and Grizfolk at venues like Hotel Café in Hollywood. His song, ‘I Need You‘, was featured in the independent film ‘Last Call at Murray’s‘.

This led him to gain a reputation for his nostalgic and emotionally resonant songwriting. Some examples of this include his track ‘When I Was Young’, reflecting on youthful adventures and the passage of time, as well as his 2019 EP, King Of Cups, showcasing his straightforward songwriting approach and subtle musical style.

Smythe continues to produce music with recent recordings completed at The Record Co. in Boston. His work is available on platforms like Spotify, SoundCloud, and YouTube. His third album, which we will review, is titled ‘Buried Alive’ and will officially be out on June 13th of this year.

The album starts off with a very poignant, homely and rustic track, preparing you for the exact kind of soundscape involving this album. The track ‘Do It Again’– It’s delicate with a ‘cute’ and familiar feel. I’d say this album definitely reminds me of the indie ‘twee’ aesthetic in the early to mid 2010s. That is merely the introduction, though. As the album continues, you’ll realise the ultimate charm of the album: its seamless ability to weave through different subgenres without sounding out of place or too unpredictable. It’s almost as if it was perfectly curated for this artist without shocking the audience from a marketing standpoint, with the genres being all under one neural network subset.

It then goes through a ballad-esque number titled ‘Girl Like You’ , with rock undertones and notes taking you through the journey of a more downtempo storytelling session. Right afterwards, through ‘Losing My Mind’, you get a bluesy, sassy and quirky number taking you through a more soulful and enthralling experience.

There are some deep and emotional numbers within this album, through tracks like ‘Seven Seas’, an initially stripped down ballad that presents itself as an intimate number between the vocalist and the instrument, building onto an emotional climax as the layers unravel and piece the song together with a subtle nod to distance and spacing between the phrasing of the verses and melodies to give it more space and emotional depth. There’s a classic-rock compositional aspect to the vocals and the background vocals, giving it a richer and distinct feel- elevated even more with the warm bass and the striking strings.

As I’ve said, this album will stun you with the way it weaves through genres. There’s aspects of hillbilly folk sandwiched within the tracks, and a slowed down indie rock number as well, making you think of the distant desert with human voices slowly and gladly encapsulating the soundscape.

One of my personal favorites from the album is ‘Buried Alive’, having the most intriguing scale out of all the songs in the album. It paints a dark, Western scene all while employing musical motifs of mystery, making you beg for more as you listen to it. Another interesting thing about the track is the wonderful mix of various instruments giving it a very dynamic feel, with a solo in the middle as well.

All in all, for the genres and feel it wishes to encapsulate, I think Buried Alive definitely does a wonderful job at telling Lee Smythe’s stories. At some points of the album, it even sounds like an offshoot of the Clementines- a cinematic, soulful croon mixed with an acoustic and ‘spaced out’ approach. The instruments are all mastered perfectly, with no album truly having a track badly mixed, maintaining a level of harmony appropriate to the theme of each track.

I think people who are into more indie and folk sounds would definitely adore this album, especially those into the Western and Americana aesthetic subtypes. Every sound within this album paints a moving picture, making it truly no surprise that the artist’s music has been featured in a film before.

SCORE/Excellent: ‘Buried Alive’ is a great thematic album that definitely stays within the range of the timbre it wishes to portray all while staying true to the aesthetic and not sacrificing an ounce of being boring. It has the perfect blend of subgenres for one to explore while listening to the album, with apt instrumentation. The vocals are also a plus point on this album, with engaging storylines.

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

Check out Lee Smythe on:

Twitter
Facebook
Instagram

or, his Official Website